Director of Sales Operations/Administration

At Lucas Milhaupt, we develop next-generation material joining solutions that are propelling industries forward. Join with the Best and become part of a team that rewards continuous improvement, celebrates diversity, and propels every team member toward personal and professional growth.

We are passionate about creating a culture where every voice is heard, every idea considered, and every success celebrated. We believe in the power of career development and the transformative impact it can have on individuals and communities.

As we continue to grow and expand as a company, we are actively seeking diverse and talented individuals who share our passion for material joining and want to be part of a journey that encourages personal and professional growth.

At Lucas, our focus is on our people – the key to our success. Our goal is to offer employees an unparalleled experience, with opportunities to grow and improve the quality of their lives and the lives of their families.

Steel Partners Diversified Industrial Group

Lucas Milhaupt, LLC. is part of the Steel Partners Holdings L.P. (“Steel Partners”) Diversified Industrial Group, which is a diversified global holding company that engages in multiple businesses through consolidated subsidiaries, associated companies, and other interests. Steel Partners owns and operates businesses and has significant interests in leading companies in various industries, including diversified industrial products, energy, defense, supply chain management and logistics, banking, and youth sports.

Position Overview

The Director of Sales Operations is responsible for leading the strategic and operational functions that drive profitable, scalable revenue growth across the organization. This role owns pricing strategy, quote governance, CRM administration, sales analytics, sales operations, and commercial process improvement. Reporting to the Vice President, Sales & Marketing, the Director provides direct leadership to the Inside Sales team and serves as the connective layer between Sales, Finance, Operations, and Marketing — ensuring the commercial organization operates with consistency, discipline, and data-driven rigor. This position is accountable for building the frameworks, systems, and processes that enable Sales to sell efficiently, price confidently, and grow margin sustainably

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Pricing & Margin Strategy

• Develop and implement pricing frameworks across product lines, customer segments, and regions.
• Lead the design of value-based pricing strategies that support revenue growth, profitability targets, and market competitiveness.
• Monitor market conditions, competitor pricing, and cost drivers (including commodity and input cost volatility) to inform pricing adjustments.
• Model the impact of cost and market movements on product pricing and customer agreements.
• Perform some level of 80/20 analysis and provide recommendations to the business quarterly.
• Define and maintain pricing approval workflows, escalation procedures, and governance frameworks to protect margin and ensure consistency across all quotes.
• Review high-impact or non-standard pricing requests for profitability, competitiveness, and alignment with commercial strategy.
• Establish and enforce quote accuracy, turnaround time, and service-level standards across the Inside Sales team.
• Serve as the escalation point for complex or exception-based pricing and quoting decisions.
• Work with Finance to ensure margin performance meets expectations.
• Partner with Finance and Operations to validate cost assumptions and identify margin-improvement opportunities.
• Lead root cause analysis on margin erosion and drive corrective pricing or process actions.

Commercial Operations & Analytics

• Own the CRM platform as single source of truth for pipeline, customer, and sales activity data.
• Define CRM data standards, workflows, and usage requirements across the sales organization.
• Partner with IT/Systems to drive CRM enhancements, integrations, and adoption.
• Ensure pricing, quoting, and customer data are accurately maintained and synchronized across CRM, ERP, and quoting systems.
• Build and maintain dashboards and reporting tools covering pipeline, quote conversion, pricing performance, and sales productivity.
• Analyze sales and pricing data to identify trends, risks, and opportunities for growth or improvement.
• Lead day-to-day sales operations, including workflow design, tools administration, and cross-functional coordination between Sales, Customer Service, Operations, and Marketing.

Commercial Process Improvement

• Continuously evaluate commercial workflows — quoting, pricing, order support, CRM usage — to identify inefficiencies and improvement opportunities.
• Develop, document, and implement best practices and standard operating procedures across the commercial organization.
• Lead root cause analysis on recurring operational, service, and performance issues, and implement sustainable corrective actions.

Inside Sales Leadership

• Directly manage and develop the Customer Support Manager and Inside Sales Team.
• Establish performance expectations, KPIs, and accountability measures.
• Drive continuous improvement in quote conversion, customer satisfaction, and productivity.
• Ensure team consistently delivers timely, accurate, and customer-focused quote and order support.
• Evaluate and champion AI/automation tools that improve quoting speed and accuracy.

Lucas Milhaupt is a manufacturing company, and the Director of Sales Operations will primarily work in an office setting while partnering closely with plant, sales, and customer-facing teams.

We offer equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. We also provide reasonable accommodation to qualified individuals with disabilities in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and applicable state or local law. If you require assistance or reasonable accommodation in completing this application or during any aspect of the application process, please contact Human Resources at 414.769.6000.

Key Qualifications:

Education and Skills

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, Analytics, or related field; MBA a plus.
• 7+ years of experience in pricing, sales operations, or commercial strategy, including people management experience.
• Strong analytical skills with experience building pricing models, dashboards, and KPI frameworks.
• Proficiency with CRM and ERP systems.
• Demonstrated success leading cross-functional process improvement initiatives.

Key Competencies

• Customer service leadership experience.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.